


Zoo Exhibit

by ClothesBeam



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Captivity, Human!Alice, Other, Successful Violent Revolution, alice and gavin are bffs, human zoo, self-starvation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-11-15 07:07:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20862218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClothesBeam/pseuds/ClothesBeam
Summary: Aside from the few trade shows he’d been shown off at, 900 has only ever known the post-revolution world. Despite this he’d quickly sought to isolate himself other androids as much as possible. His facial model had been kept from his predecessor, the Deviant Hunter, after all.One day Josh asks if he would use his in-built skills for dealing with some of the humans in the human zoo exhibits. Though the work is satisfying, 900 is beginning to suspect Josh had another motive for recruiting him.Gavin Reed is not the easiest human to deal with.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The rating of this may or may not increase to Explicit later, but I’ve chosen to keep it at M for now because unlike the majority of my other stuff, this isn’t actually pron. Even tagging it as Reed900 is kind of a spoiler?
> 
> Obviously any story about a human zoo exhibit isn’t going to be butterflies and sunshine, but if you got through the game ok, this will probably be fine as well.  
I’ll update the tags as we go along if anything worse than that turns up.

Josh led 900 down the extensive corridors that ran behind and between the human exhibits. Last time 900 had been here, all the humans had been kept together in the same open range exhibit. Since then one of them had been isolated from the rest in his own little enclosure. Apparently he’d hurt one of the others. While the damage could be repaired, Josh had been unable to get him to eat anything since he’d been isolated.

“I’m glad I found you when I did,” Josh reflected as he moved along slowly, eyes slightly out of focus as he used the cameras to check on the humans on the other side of the solid wall. “The worst I’m used to dealing with is lazy undergraduates. I can analyse his behaviour from a psychological standpoint, but obviously the things I’ve tried have been ineffective. I think you might have better luck.”

900 nodded. He was happy someone found his skills useful. Most didn’t get past reviling him for looking like the Deviant Hunter.

“His behaviour problems are going to take some time to solve. For today I just need you to convince him to eat something. I’d rather not let it get to the point where we have to use the tube to force feed him.” Josh paused and returned his full attention to their present surroundings. “That would only make him hate us, and validate his behaviour in his mind.”

900 nodded again. Josh gave him a small smile. He seemed to understand that 900 wasn’t being rude. He just didn’t have much to say to someone who had been online for as long as Josh had.

“Well, good luck. Try not to hurt him, but do remember your own safety comes first. If you’re unsuccessful we can always try another approach.”

Josh waited for his final nod of acknowledgement before moving to the main human exhibit. The other human that had been involved in the fight still had injuries that needed to be checked on.

900 moved to the end of the corridor and paused in front of the door at the end. He brought up the information from what had once been a group of government databases, and used what little information there was on Gavin to start constructing an approach.

900 reached out and scanned himself into the heavily armoured door. Between that and the area the human lived in was a small airlock area. The dark wood of the second door looked like something that might be found in an older human house.

He moved his hand with sharp and precise movements as he knocked on the door three times. “Gavin?” 900 paused to listen for a moment, but picked up neither movement nor speech. “I’m coming in now.”

He didn’t ask. It was better to speak as though him entering the room was inevitable and expected.

A moment later, 900 opened the door, which verified his identity as he put his hand on the knob. To his right the wall was made of thick glass that was currently set to appear opaque, since they weren’t going to put a sick human on display.

On the side of the room opposite to where 900 was standing was a four-poster bed with curtains that could be drawn for privacy during sleep, just as they were currently. There was also another door that led to the outdoor area attached to the space. A quick check of the cameras showed 900 he wasn’t out there.

900 turned his attention to the bed as he closed and locked the door behind him. His mouth tightened when he saw the breakfast that had been delivered earlier in the day had been knocked off the bedside table. Yoghurt had congealed against the carpet. It also looked like the fruit had been stomped into the flooring on purpose. If the smell wasn’t already bothering the human, it soon would.

“Gavin?” 900 called again as he slowly approached the bed, passing the small desk, dining table, and screened off bathing area as he went. 900 noted a change in the human’s breathing pattern, and guessed he had actually woken him up.

900 paused at a distance from the bed that should be considered non-threatening when he heard the rustle of sheets and blankets. A head of mussed hair poked out of the curtains.

“Who the fuck?” the human grunted as he pried the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked a few times, and then his eyes narrowed. “Connor!?”

900’s fist closed when he heard the name. Josh could have warned him that Gavin knew his predecessor. But maybe he hadn’t been aware of this fact.

“Guess again,” 900 replied, purposely emphasising the differences in their voices. It seemed to work if Gavin’s confused micro expression was anything to go by.

“What are you doing here?” the human demanded, retreating back into his space a little. “Doesn’t the other dude normally do humans?”

“Josh told me he needed help with a difficult case,” 900 said lightly. He wasn’t sure what part of his program was telling him to trigger the man’s emotions, but he supposed it was the most efficient way to find out what made him tick.

“What, are you here to put me down, Terminator?” Gavin replied with a sneer, but 900 didn’t miss the way he looked him over for weapons. The human had worked in law enforcement before the revolution, and if his file was anything to go by, he had been good at it.

“No,” 900 replied evenly. “As a relative of Elijah Kamski, you’re far too valuable for that. Some of the revolutionaries want to start a breeding program.” Not that Josh would let them get away with it if he could help it.

Gavin’s face lost its colour and he leaned back even further, retreating into the space behind the curtains. 900 wanted to backpedal on the way he’d delivered his last statement. Getting the human to shut up and behave more meekly might help achieve his current task, but it wasn’t the point of it.

There was no need to be actively cruel.

900 turned away slightly, focusing his attention more on the clouded window than the human in front of him. Appearing to be less confrontational should put him at ease. “Although, no one would know it with the way you throw your food everywhere,” he added, more lightly this time.

“So that’s what this is really about, huh? You want to know why I’m not eating?”

“Understanding why is tangential to getting you to do so,” 900 replied, turning his head to meet the human’s eyes again properly.

“I don’t want to be isolated from the others like this,” he snapped, though 900 detected a hint of weakness in his voice toward the end of his sentence. Gavin’s situation was bothering him more than he wanted to let on.

“You broke the other human’s nose. He’s still recovering.” 900 asked his next question before he could reflect on the necessity of knowing the answer. “What were you fighting about?”

Gavin’s demeanour shifted subtly, and 900 knew he was trying to hide something. “He was just a dumbass.”

“And you _want_ to go back into the same environment as him? What’s going to stop you from attacking the others if we put you back in the same space as them?” 900 asked as he took a few small steps forward. “It doesn’t seem like a good move from our point of view.”

“Is having your most precious ‘specimen’ starve itself to death any better?” Gavin demanded, clearly scornful of what he had become since the revolution. But 900 couldn’t help but feel the human was avoiding his questions for a reason.

900 let out a soft sigh, knowing some things just couldn’t be communicated with words alone. “It will never get to that point. Even if you can continue resisting the temptation of readily available food, there are ways we can force you to ingest something of nutritional value. But that wouldn’t be particularly pleasant for either of us.”

“You can’t force me,” he denied, though 900 could detect uneasiness around his eyes. “I’ll just throw it back up as soon as you leave.”

“We can put a tube through your nose and down to your digestive tract, then keep you restrained long enough to actually digest something of nutritional value. But that will be almost as unpleasant for Josh and myself as it would be for you. Josh created this establishment so the humans still on our territory wouldn’t have to suffer.” When Gavin still looked sceptical, he continued. “Would you rather be shot on the street, or stared at by curious androids? At least this way there’s the potential to contribute to a possible future where an understanding can be reached between humans and androids.”

“Don’t try and play mind games with me!” Gavin protested. “Being kept in a fucking zoo is even worse than being an actual prisoner of war! As long as I have the chance to take one of you fuckups with me, I’d rather risk being shot.”

Though Gavin’s words were angry, his heart rate hadn’t increased all that much. It seemed he was trying to get a reaction out of 900 more than anything else.

900 reached into the inside pocket of his jacket. This time he did get a more genuine reaction, though it seemed to be one of fear. He pulled out the nutrient dense protein bar and tossed it in Gavin’s direction, so it would land on the bedspread in front of him.

“Eat it, and I’ll clean this mess up and leave you alone.”

Gavin stared down at the bar contemptuously. “I don’t care whether it gets cleaned up or not.”

900 switched his olfactories from reaction to analysis mode and examined the particles entering his nostrils. This way the smell didn’t register as unpleasant to a human. Only its chemical makeup was analysed.

“You will care in about six hours,” 900 replied once he had considered the average temperature in the room. “I can simply turn my nose off, you know.”

Gavin seemed to be seriously weighing up his options. After a long minute of silence, he caved. “Fine, if it’ll get rid of you I’ll eat this one thing.” He unwrapped the bar and took a bite.

900 saw some kind of relief in his expression, and left him to finish it quickly while he moved to the bathroom unit to wet the cleaning cloth he’d had hooked in his belt. He felt better about having it than a gun holster.

By the time he returned to the main room, Gavin had finished eating and had put a shirt on. He was walking over to the rubbish bin near the doorway. He glanced at the cloth in 900’s hands before looking away to put the wrapper in the bin.

“I can clean it myself,” Gavin said stiffly.

When 900 approached him, Gavin’s body language closed in slightly, before almost immediately switching to an exaggeration of confidence. He was trying to not look intimidated.

900 picked up the small bin and inspected the wrapper. There were only a few stray crumbs left in it. On reflection, he probably should have stayed to watch him eat it all. Replaying the last few seconds of camera footage only showed Gavin hiding behind the privacy curtains on the bed.

“As I said, I need to be here until you’ve had time to gain something of nutritional value. So I might as well do this while I am here. But don’t expect the same treatment if you have a tantrum over breakfast tomorrow as well.”

“Tomorrow?” Gavin asked sharply.

“This is hardly going to resolve itself overnight, is it?” 900 replied as he began trying to scrape the yoghurt out of the carpet.

Gavin stomped past him and pushed open the door to the outdoor area. He left the door open and remained in 900’s line of sight, so he didn’t say anything about it.

900 didn’t bother rushing his work. He would supervise Gavin in person for an hour, then set up an alert on the camera system until he returned the next day.

Themes were already beginning to emerge. A lack of control. Pride and humiliation. Inability to accept the permanence his new circumstances.

It was about time 900 had a role that would sufficiently occupy his processors.


	2. Chapter 2

Gavin was restless. He hadn’t slept very well, since the only thing of any importance he really had to think about was when Not-Connor would return. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.

Gavin looked up as he exited the bathroom stall when there was a knock at the stupid door that was meant to make him feel more at home, or whatever. It wasn’t like anything else about the place looked like a normal house. He was relieved to hear the person calling his name was clearly female, and was by now quite familiar.

“Yeah?” he called back to indicate he was modest. Kara was the only android he knew that had a normal sense of what was and wasn’t weird when it came to that sort of thing.

Once she’d opened it, Kara pushed a trolley through the doorway. It was mostly filled with dirty dishes, but one remaining meal had been kept aside. She took it over to the table, so Gavin moved over there too.

“It’s good to see you’re up today,” Kara said as she poured the remaining fruit juice into a glass for him as well. “Alice asked me how you’re getting along.”

Gavin sighed. “Tell her I’m fine. No need to worry her any more than that.”

Kara moved away to gather the dirty dishes from last night. He had considerately piled them up with the expectation Kara would still be the first person he’d see today. Really she was the only android he actually liked. Alice had told him their story, and he couldn’t disrespect an android deviating to save a child from an awful home situation.

He’d seen enough of those in his line of work.

“Are you, though?” Kara asked as she rearranged the dishes on her trolley.

Gavin shrugged. “I don’t know, I feel like shit after talking up escaping and then getting isolated in a place I can’t help her do it. Kid has more guts than any other human here.”

Kara smiled fondly, obviously in agreement. “Her home situation until now may mean she’s behind on her education, but Alice had to develop maturity in other areas very quickly. I’m glad her atypical upbringing is at least helping her now.”

Gavin grunted his agreement as he started cutting up the scrambled eggs on toast. When he’d announced his intention to escape, Alice had been the only one on board even if it meant risking their lives on the streets. When that dumbass Nick had threatened to reveal their escape plan to Josh, he’d had to motivate him to shut his mouth somehow.

What kind of person stood in the way of a little girl’s dream to be free, anyway?

“Alice would like to see that you’re all right with her own eyes,” Kara added as she opened the door again. If she stuck around to chat for too long, someone might think something was up. “Please do whatever they consider to be good behaviour so you can speak to her soon. They will probably reintroduce you to the group at a staggered rate to make sure you won’t hit anyone else, but even a few minutes would be enough to assuage her.”

“Tell her I’ll see her soon,” Gavin replied more confidently than he felt.

Doing what they wanted probably meant doing whatever Not-Connor wanted. He was still a little uneasy about how the android had cornered him into eating, seemingly without breaking a metaphorical sweat.

Then he’d mentioned that breeding program thing. Gavin tried to take his mind off of what the hell that could imply so he’d be able to finish eating. Sure, he was related to Kamski, but only because their mothers were sisters. He could make some claim to intelligence, but he clearly wasn’t a genius. Were the androids hoping to accelerate their own development by making another genius?

Gavin supposed he’d just have to deal with that if it ever came to it. He didn’t want to know how they planned to get genetic material out of him, but he wouldn’t make it easy.

Still, if he acted perfectly well behaved for a day or two, surely they’d at least let him visit the other humans. He needed to reassure Alice, and not all of the others were as bad as Nick. They were just too cowardly to escape with them. Then again, traveling in a smaller group through hostile territory would probably give them a better chance of escaping. He knew it wouldn’t be easy either way, but even if they screwed it up, surely they wouldn’t risk killing him if he was supposedly so valuable for his genes.

He could only hope that was the case.

* * *

900 helped the android from what was left of the farms unload her truck of supplies into the food storage area. With no humans left in Detroit and its surrounds other than those in the zoo, androids had been quick to rip down and replace infrastructure that was useless to them. The city was barely recognisable when compared to the maps that had originally been programmed into him, and a human would certainly have a hard time navigating it without the ability to connect to anything wirelessly.

Once all the items had been placed in units of the correct temperature, 900 signed off the delivery and waved goodbye to the other android, who had been polite enough but still left his presence as quickly as possible. An echo of a program that had been made for a different world told him there should have been an exchange of monetary funds, but of course everything was centrally planned for maximum efficiency now. They couldn’t afford to take any chances when the humans outside their territory could still be working to take it back.

900 paused to check the storage over once more, ensuring all the doors had been closed properly. His eyes ran over the food preparation area, where an AX400 that went by the name of Kara was preparing the next meal of the day for the humans. When she noticed he was observing her, she looked up and gave him a somewhat uneasy smile.

Assuming that she had once been hunted, 900 moved away to avoid upsetting her any further. Perhaps she would get used to his presence over time. Somehow he doubted this Gavin issue was going to solve itself any time soon, anyway.

900 made his way down to the isolated enclosure and made himself known once again. This time when he knocked he got a response.

“What?”

900 wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. “I’m coming in, now,” he said as he pushed the door open. He had wondered if Gavin would try to push past him or escape, but maybe he already knew it was fruitless. The airlock nature of the doors meant one had to be closed before the other could open, making escape past there impossible.

“What do you want?” Gavin elaborated. “I ate dinner last night and breakfast today. Wasn’t that the problem?”

900 calmly closed the door behind him. He was sure Gavin was intelligent enough to know that wasn’t the main issue. “Good to hear it. But I can see your attitude hasn’t changed any.” 900 moved further into the room and leaned against the dining table. He watched Gavin back up a little so he was closer to the bed, a place it seemed he considered to be safe. “I’m sure you’re aware that is the real concern we have.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to go in there and randomly hit someone,” he insisted.

“So the fact you hit the other human wasn’t ‘random’? Why did you do it, and what’s stopping you from doing it again?” 900 asked as he folded his arms loosely and tilted his head.

Gavin’s mouth contorted and he turned away slightly. He opened his mouth, but 900 spoke over him.

“I can tell you’re lying. Tell me what really happened, and we can resolve the issue and move you back in with the others permanently.”

Gavin glared at him openly, not appreciating his interruption. “I told you, Nick is a dickhead.”

“What makes you say that? As a former officer of the law, you must surely know that isn’t a valid justification for this kind of behaviour. And what, are you going to punch him next time he does something you don’t like?”

“It’s none of your business. He betrayed my trust, and that little girl’s, that’s all you need to know. We won’t be talking to him again, so I’ll have no need to punch him again.”

900 searched his databases for the ‘little girl’ Gavin was referring to. He had to mean the youngest human they had in the exhibit, Alice. “That’s an extreme statement, isn’t it? What could he have possibly done to the two of you in an environment like this to garner such a reaction?”

“I told you, it’s none of your business!” Gavin raised his voice, clearly trying to get him to back off. But that only indicated to 900 that there was something he needed to know.

900 pushed off of the table and approached Gavin, who took another half a step back. “What makes you think you retain any right to privacy here?” he asked as he raised his hand to connect to the systems that controlled the room.

The glass turned from opaque to clear. There weren’t very many people inside the zoo at this time of day, and it wasn’t exactly a popular attraction anyway, but Gavin still backed up until the bed and the curtains around it were between him and the glass.

“We have been tasked with caring for you and maintaining your dignity where possible so that we can learn from humans, not to wait on you hand and foot. The more you refuse to answer me, the more it seems you are hiding something that would constitute a security concern.” Gavin looked away, and 900 worried he was closer to the truth than he’d realised. “Now are you going to tell me what the real problem is or not?”

Gavin turned away and folded his arms stubbornly. 900 waited, but the silence and stillness persisted. Realising he wasn’t going to get anywhere, he reactivated the opaque particles and disconnected from the room’s systems.

“If you continue eating your meals properly for the rest of today and all of tomorrow, I will permit you a short visit to speak to the girl. She must be distressed,” 900 said gently.

Gavin looked over his shoulder, clearly surprised by the apparent turnaround in his approach to the situation.

“In the meantime, perhaps your victim will be more willing to talk to me.” 900 turned moved back to the door.

“What? That asshole will just lie! He hates us!” Gavin said quickly.

900 paused with his hand on the door handle. “I’ve given you plenty of opportunity to tell your side of the story.”

900 remained silent, but it seemed Gavin still wasn’t willing to provide answers.

“I will be back to speak to you tomorrow evening.”


End file.
